This disclosure relates to an interface bridge for efficient communication between a first integrated circuit die that includes programmable logic and a second integrated circuit die that supports the first integrated circuit die.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it may be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Integrated circuit devices are used in numerous electronic systems. Computers, handheld devices, portable phones, televisions, industrial control systems, robotics, and telecommunication networking—to name just a few—all use integrated circuit devices. Integrated circuit devices may be formed using lithography techniques that pattern circuitry onto a substrate wafer that is diced to form a number of (generally identical) individual integrated circuit die. Each integrated circuit die may include many different components, such as programmable logic fabric, digital or analog signal transmission circuitry, digital signal processing circuitry, application-specific data processing circuitry, memory, and so forth. In general, different components may be based on different underlying technologies. Thus, different components of an integrated circuit device may be better suited to different development cycles or fabrication techniques. For example, programmable logic fabric such as field programmable gate array (FPGA) fabric may scale well to smaller sizes and thus may benefit from greatly by newer lithography techniques. On the other hand, other technologies, such as certain analog signal transmission circuitry, may not scale as well and may be better suited for older fabrication techniques.
To enable different components of an integrated circuit device to be developed more independently, some of the components may be moved off-chip. Instead of a single monolithic design, a first integrated circuit die with some of the components may be fabricated separately from a second integrated circuit die with other components. As such, the various separate integrated circuit die may be fabricated using different lithography techniques or generations, and may be developed according to different schedules. Yet separating the components onto separate die may come at a cost. Namely, it may be difficult or impossible to use the same number of wires between the separate first integrated circuit die and the second integrated circuit die.